Nevada Elk Mule Deer

Unit 161 - 164 (Monitor Range, Table Mountain and the Toquima Range)

Nevada Hunting Guide — Elk, Mule Deer

Units 161 - 164 cover about 5,781 square miles of Nye, Eureka and Lander counties. NDOW's sheet puts many of the elk in the Monitor Range in Unit 162, densest around Table Mountain, with bulls also using the Toquima Range near Shoshone Mountain and Spanish Peak. The Mount Jefferson and Table Mountain wilderness areas bar motors and wheeled carriers, and services are few and far apart.

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Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 161 - 164

Answer a few questions about your tag, your season and your rig, and the Field Intelligence Report builds a print-ready Nevada Unit 161 - 164 guide around your hunt: three ranked spots with morning, afternoon and evening plays, a day-by-day plan, topo maps with every pin numbered, a camp and access plan, the legal and retrieval rules for this unit, shot discipline, a meat-care and pack-out plan, and a pre-trip checklist. Every coordinate sits on land recorded as public.

Elk guide Mule Deer guide

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Elk Hunting in Unit 161 - 164

Where to Find Elk in Units 161 - 164: Table Mountain, Butler Basin and the Monitor Range

Table Mountain and Butler Basin in the Monitor Range

Elk live in every unit of this group, but the Monitor Range in Unit 162 holds many of them. Table Mountain has the highest density and also the most hunters, especially on the early hunts. If you don't have horses, the Dobbin Summit and Butler Basin/Willow Creek country is easier to reach than the Table Mountain Wilderness. By the late hunts, elk have usually left both. The Table Mountain herd winters mostly on the southeast side of the Monitors, from Haystack Canyon to Sheep Mountain; the Butler Basin elk winter around Butler/Willow Creek and Blackrock.

NDOW's separate sheet for the Table Mountain Wilderness hunt says cow-calf groups use the whole wilderness, and they're easiest to find deep inside it and on the mountain's high slopes. Key on water and good feed.

Hunts Canyon, Charnac Basin and the Toquima bulls

Mature bulls tend to winter apart from the cows, in harder country. Lone bulls and bachelor groups turn up in canyons all through the Monitors. NDOW suggests starting high around Hunts Canyon and White Sage Canyon, and on the north end of Charnac Basin and Big Flat. At certain times of year bulls also use the Shoshone Mountain/Spanish Peak area of the Toquima Range and the Six Mile to Fandango stretch.

The ground NDOW draws for this tag

A elk tag for this group is good in units 161, 162, 163 and 164, about 5,781 square miles measured on NDOW's own boundary, in Nye County, Eureka County and Lander County. The named ranges inside the line are Red Mountains, Hot Creek Range, Pancake Range, McKinney Mountains, Rhyolite Hills and Needle Range. The highest named points are South Summit (11,932 ft), North Summit Mount Jefferson (11,808 ft) and Middle Summit Mount Jefferson (11,684 ft), and the lowest named ground sits near 5,234 feet. We don't print a land-status split for Nevada groups, because the figures we held didn't come from BLM's surface-management data; check BLM's current map for private parcels before you cross a fence or a cattle guard. GNIS names 252 springs inside it, Paroni Spring, Flask Spring, Collins Spring and Spencer Hot Springs among them.

Unit 161 - 164 terrain and land status

Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: South Summit (11,932 ft), North Summit Mount Jefferson (11,808 ft), Monitor Range (10,885 ft), Shoshone Mountain (10,885 ft)

Holding ground: Danville Pass (10,398 ft), Scuffe Pasture (9,601 ft), Windy Pass (9,264 ft)

Every one of these was tested against the unit polygon before it went on the map. They are starting points, not agency recommendations.

How to Hunt Elk in Units 161 - 164: wilderness on foot and bulls after the rut

Mount Jefferson and Table Mountain wilderness rules

Several well-kept roads reach this group. Off-road travel is restricted in places, though, and banned outright in the Mount Jefferson and Table Mountain wilderness areas in Units 161 and 162. Inside them you can't use motorized equipment or mechanized transport, which rules out wheeled game carriers and chainsaws. The Table Mountain Wilderness covers about 92,600 acres under the U.S. Forest Service, and there's no motorized access to it at all.

Learn its trails before the hunt. Without pack stock, getting a cow off Table Mountain is hard work, so show up in shape for it.

Cows in the timber, bulls in the rough

Cow-calf groups favor gentler, lower ground and slip into heavy timber during daylight. For most of the year mature bulls stay away from them. During the rut, bulls move toward the cows; after it, they head for rugged terrain away from roads. Elk on Table Mountain learn fast, too. Once pressured, they avoid trailheads and main access points, so the first walk in is often your best.

Full services exist only in Austin, Carvers, Round Mountain, Eureka and Tonopah. Expect primitive camping, with few developed sites and some trailhead facilities.

The 2025 season in NDOW's own numbers

NDOW's 2025 Big Game Hunt Data is the hunter survey behind these figures: who drew, who went, who filled a tag. Success there is NDOW's own figure, successful hunters over hunters afield. NDOW ran 1 more elk hunt on this group, smaller ones; the draw panel lists them.

Antlerless, any legal weapon, Dec 05 - Jan 01: 55 resident and 6 nonresident tags. 46 hunters went afield and 4 filled their tag (9%). Hunters reported 7.1 days afield on average.
Antlerless, archery, Aug 01 - Aug 15: 40 resident and 4 nonresident tags. 41 hunters went afield and 9 filled their tag (22%). Hunters reported 4.4 days afield on average.
Spike, any legal weapon, Dec 05 - Jan 01: 35 resident tags. 27 hunters went afield and 5 filled their tag (19%). Hunters reported 4.7 days afield on average.
Antlerless, any legal weapon, Oct 01 - Oct 20: 30 resident and 3 nonresident tags. 31 hunters went afield and 7 filled their tag (23%). Hunters reported 4.0 days afield on average.

Roads in and the nearest towns

The longest named roads through the group are Belmont Road, US 6, NV 376 and Little Fish Lake Valley Road. Our road inventory counts roughly 201 miles of pavement, 358 of gravel and 528 of high-clearance or four-wheel-drive track. The nearest towns are Carvers (16 mi), Round Mountain (20 mi) and Kingston (21 mi), measured from the centre of the closest unit in the group.

Nevada rules that decide your day

Summarised from NDOW regulations. They change — read the current regulations and your permit-tag before you hunt.

Legal shooting hours

Big game may be taken from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset.

Motorized retrieval

Nevada has no general off-road retrieval allowance; travel stays on existing routes.

Tagging

Validate and attach the tag before the animal is moved.

Leaving meat

Wasting edible meat is illegal.

Where you may not shoot

Occupied structures — No shooting within 5,000 feet of an occupied dwelling without permission in some counties; no shooting from or across a highway.

Elk: where to put the shot

Broadside or quartering away, on the back edge of the front leg about a third of the way up the body. That is lungs, and on a quartering-away angle it picks up the far shoulder.

Shots to refuse

No straight-on and no straight-away shots. An elk's chest is deep and the margin is small.
Nothing standing behind or overlapping the animal you picked. A pass-through kills the elk behind it too.
Your maximum range is the farthest you have put three shots in a paper plate off the sticks you are actually carrying. Not the farthest you have ever hit anything.
Scope on 3–4x. A herd fills a 12x field of view and you lose the animal you picked.

Identification:On an antlerless tag, legal means no antler of any kind through the skin. A spike looks exactly like a cow until it turns its head. If you can't see the head, don't shoot.

Plan the carry: roughly 150– 220 lb of boned-out meat, before head and hide — two to four large coolers, plus bagged ice from town. ProHunt planning estimate, not an agency figure.

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Elk Success Rates

Antlerless, any legal weapon: 4 of 46 hunters afield (9%); Antlerless, archery: 9 of 41 hunters afield (22%); Spike, any legal weapon: 5 of 27 hunters afield (19%); Antlerless, any legal weapon: 7 of 31 hunters afield (23%). Figures are NDOW's own, from its 2025 Big Game Hunt Data.

Elk Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Rifle — Mid Season antlerless (resident)	30	601	5.0%	—
Rifle — Mid Season antlerless (nonresident)	3	59	5.1%	—
Rifle — Late Season antlerless (resident)	55	412	13.3%	—
Rifle — Late Season antlerless (nonresident)	6	61	9.8%	—
Rifle — Late Season spike only (resident)	35	217	16.1%	—
Archery — Early Season antlerless (resident)	40	71	56.3%	—
Archery — Early Season antlerless (nonresident)	4	9	44.4%	—
Muzzleloader — Early Season antlerless (resident)	17	65	26.2%	—
Muzzleloader — Early Season antlerless (nonresident)	2	6	33.3%	—

Data from 2025 draw results. Each row is one residency pool — read the label before the number. This agency publishes no point thresholds, so the Pts column stays blank and these are pool odds, not what a point total draws.

Open in Draw Odds Engine

From NDOW's 2025 Big Game Hunt Data. Demand is NDOW's count of tags awarded plus first-choice applicants who did not draw; its draw rate is tags over demand.

Antlerless, any legal weapon — Residents: 412 demand for 55 tags, a 13.3% draw rate; Nonresidents: 61 demand for 6 tags, a 9.8% draw rate.
Antlerless, archery — Residents: 71 demand for 40 tags, a 56.3% draw rate; Nonresidents: 9 demand for 4 tags, a 44.4% draw rate.
Spike, any legal weapon — Residents: 217 demand for 35 tags, a 16.1% draw rate.
Antlerless, any legal weapon — Residents: 601 demand for 30 tags, a 5.0% draw rate; Nonresidents: 59 demand for 3 tags, a 5.1% draw rate.
Antlerless, muzzleloader — Residents: 65 demand for 17 tags, a 26.2% draw rate; Nonresidents: 6 demand for 2 tags, a 33.3% draw rate.

NDOW's hunt data publishes no points-required figure, so none is given here.

Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 161 - 164

Units 161 - 164 span about 5,781 square miles of Nye, Eureka and Lander counties, between US 50 on the north and US 6 on the south. NDOW's sheet says deer live in every unit, with the largest herds in Units 161 and 162 and the best hunting high above the pinyon-juniper belt. Two wilderness areas reward hunters who know the backcountry.

Where to Find Mule Deer in Units 161 - 164: high country above the pinyon-juniper belt

Units 161 and 162, between 8,000 and 10,000 feet

Deer are found throughout Management Area 16, from the foothills to the peaks. Units 161 and 162 have the biggest herds and the best harvest rates, but they draw more hunters too. In season, look above the pinyon-juniper belt. That's roughly 8,000 to 10,000 feet, where open country mixes mountain brush and meadows with pockets of pine or aspen and stands of mountain mahogany. NDOW is blunt that there are far more deer away from roads.

Early water, then the move into Unit 163

Spend the early hunts high and close to water. If monsoon storms soak these ranges, deer depend less on surface water and spread out. Once measurable snow falls on the group, many deer start migrating into Unit 163, so that's the unit to watch when the weather turns.

Glassing decides most hunts here. NDOW notes that two hunters in the same drainage can come away with completely different counts, one seeing plenty of deer and the other none, and that most people don't spend nearly enough time behind the glass. Its advice is short: "Be patient, move less, glass more."

The ground NDOW draws for this tag

A mule deer tag for this group is good in units 161, 162, 163 and 164, about 5,781 square miles measured on NDOW's own boundary, in Nye County, Eureka County and Lander County. The named ranges inside the line are Red Mountains, Hot Creek Range, Pancake Range, McKinney Mountains, Rhyolite Hills and Needle Range. The highest named points are South Summit (11,932 ft), North Summit Mount Jefferson (11,808 ft) and Middle Summit Mount Jefferson (11,684 ft), and the lowest named ground sits near 5,234 feet. We don't print a land-status split for Nevada groups, because the figures we held didn't come from BLM's surface-management data; check BLM's current map for private parcels before you cross a fence or a cattle guard. GNIS names 252 springs inside it, Paroni Spring, Flask Spring, Collins Spring and Spencer Hot Springs among them.

Unit 161 - 164 terrain and land status

Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: South Summit (11,932 ft), North Summit Mount Jefferson (11,808 ft), Monitor Range (10,885 ft), Shoshone Mountain (10,885 ft)

Holding ground: Danville Pass (10,398 ft), Scuffe Pasture (9,601 ft), Windy Pass (9,264 ft)

Every one of these was tested against the unit polygon before it went on the map. They are starting points, not agency recommendations.

How to Hunt Mule Deer in Units 161 - 164: the Mount Jefferson and Table Mountain trails

US 50, US 6 and the north-south roads

US 50 runs along the north edge of the group and US 6 along the south. Between them, the main access roads follow the mountain ranges north to south. Off-road travel is restricted in some places and prohibited in parts of two units, where the Alta Toquima (Mount Jefferson) and Table Mountain wilderness areas cover ground in Units 161 and 162.

Trailheads into Alta Toquima and Table Mountain

The wilderness can hunt very well, but NDOW says backcountry experience is a must. For Mount Jefferson, hiking trails start near the south summit, at Pine Creek, in Pasco Canyon and by Moores Creek. Table Mountain has many trails on both its east and west sides.

Plan for distance. Central Nevada is remote, and your hunting area may be many miles from fuel or food. Full services exist only in Austin, Carvers/Round Mountain, Eureka and Tonopah, and camping is mostly primitive, with few developed sites and some trailhead facilities. NDOW flies helicopter surveys in late November or early December, using fawn-to-doe and buck-to-doe ratios to judge how the herd is doing.

The 2025 season in NDOW's own numbers

NDOW's 2025 Big Game Hunt Data is the hunter survey behind these figures: who drew, who went, who filled a tag. Success there is NDOW's own figure, successful hunters over hunters afield. NDOW ran 2 more mule deer hunts on this group, smaller ones; the draw panel lists them.

Antlered, any legal weapon, Oct 05 - Oct 20: 175 resident and 13 nonresident tags. 166 hunters went afield and 61 filled their tag (37%). Hunters reported 4.5 days afield on average. 32% of the bucks residents took carried four or more points on a side.
Antlered, archery, Aug 10 - Sep 09: 85 resident and 15 nonresident tags. 81 hunters went afield and 16 filled their tag (20%). Hunters reported 5.4 days afield on average. 47% of the bucks residents took carried four or more points on a side.
Junior, seasonal weapon restriction, Aug 10 - Nov 02: 95 resident tags. 81 hunters went afield and 46 filled their tag (57%). Hunters reported 3.9 days afield on average. 22% of the bucks residents took carried four or more points on a side.
Antlered, muzzleloader, Sep 10 - Oct 04: 30 resident and 6 nonresident tags. 31 hunters went afield and 11 filled their tag (35%). Hunters reported 4.6 days afield on average. 20% of the bucks residents took carried four or more points on a side.

Roads in and the nearest towns

Nevada rules that decide your day

Summarised from NDOW regulations. They change — read the current regulations and your permit-tag before you hunt.

Legal shooting hours

Big game may be taken from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset.

Motorized retrieval

Nevada has no general off-road retrieval allowance; travel stays on existing routes.

Tagging

Validate and attach the tag before the animal is moved.

Leaving meat

Wasting edible meat is illegal.

Where you may not shoot

Occupied structures — No shooting within 5,000 feet of an occupied dwelling without permission in some counties; no shooting from or across a highway.

Mule Deer: where to put the shot

Broadside or quartering away, on the back edge of the front leg about a third of the way up the body.

Shots to refuse

Nothing behind or overlapping the animal you picked.
Your maximum range is the farthest you have shot a three-shot group into a paper plate from the rest you are carrying.
Pass the shot you are talking yourself into.

Plan the carry: roughly 40– 120 lb of boned-out meat, before head and hide — two large coolers. ProHunt planning estimate, not an agency figure.

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Mule Deer Success Rates

Antlered, any legal weapon: 61 of 166 hunters afield (37%); Antlered, archery: 16 of 81 hunters afield (20%); Junior, seasonal weapon restriction: 46 of 81 hunters afield (57%); Antlered, muzzleloader: 11 of 31 hunters afield (35%). Figures are NDOW's own, from its 2025 Big Game Hunt Data.

Mule Deer Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Rifle — Mid Season bull/buck only (resident)	200	692	28.9%	—
Rifle — Mid Season bull/buck only (nonresident)	15	177	8.5%	—
Rifle — Limited Entry either sex (resident)	60	83	72.3%	—
Rifle — Limited Entry antlerless (resident)	45	100	45.0%	—
Rifle — Early Season either sex (resident)	95	111	85.6%	—
Archery — Early Season bull/buck only (resident)	85	94	90.4%	—
Archery — Early Season bull/buck only (nonresident)	15	43	34.9%	—
Muzzleloader — Early Season bull/buck only (resident)	30	53	56.6%	—
Muzzleloader — Early Season bull/buck only (nonresident)	6	15	40.0%	—

Open in Draw Odds Engine

From NDOW's 2025 Big Game Hunt Data. Demand is NDOW's count of tags awarded plus first-choice applicants who did not draw; its draw rate is tags over demand.

Antlered, any legal weapon — Residents: 493 demand for 175 tags, a 35.5% draw rate; Nonresidents: 124 demand for 13 tags, a 10.5% draw rate.
Antlered, archery — Residents: 94 demand for 85 tags, a 90.4% draw rate; Nonresidents: 43 demand for 15 tags, a 34.9% draw rate.
Junior, seasonal weapon restriction — Residents: 111 demand for 95 tags, a 85.6% draw rate.
Antlered, muzzleloader — Residents: 53 demand for 30 tags, a 56.6% draw rate; Nonresidents: 15 demand for 6 tags, a 40.0% draw rate.
Antlered, any legal weapon — Residents: 199 demand for 25 tags, a 12.6% draw rate; Nonresidents: 53 demand for 2 tags, a 3.8% draw rate.
Guided antlered, any legal weapon — Nonresidents: 3 demand for 5 tags, a 100.0% draw rate.

NDOW's hunt data publishes no points-required figure, so none is given here.

Unit Logistics & Expectations

Planning Notes

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Camp Sites

Developed campgrounds in the group: Pine Creek Campground, Toquima Cave Campground, Flowers Camp.

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Water

GNIS names 252 springs inside the group. Desert springs go dry; carry water and treat what you find.

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Road Conditions

Belmont Road, US 6 and NV 376 are the longest named roads in the group. About 201 mi paved, 358 mi gravel, 528 mi high-clearance or 4WD.

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Terrain Difficulty

Named features run from 5,234 to 11,932 ft across 4 units. More than 4,000 feet of relief, so plan the pack-out before the shot.

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Weather

Season normals from the group's largest unit: Sep 79/42°F, 0.8 in.; Oct 67/32°F, 0.6 in.; Nov 53/22°F, 0.4 in.; Dec 42/15°F, 0.5 in..

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Nearest Town

Carvers (16 mi), Round Mountain (20 mi), Kingston (21 mi)

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Permit Notes

A tag for this group is good only inside units 161 - 164. Check NDOW's current regulations for season dates before you go.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which units does a Nevada elk tag for 161 - 164 cover?

NDOW draws it as one unit group: units 161, 162, 163 and 164, about 5,781 square miles in Nye County, Eureka County and Lander County. The tag is good anywhere inside that line and nowhere outside it.

What was hunter success for elk on units 161 - 164 in 2025?

On NDOW's largest 2025 elk hunt here, the antlerless hunt (any legal weapon), Dec 05 - Jan 01, 4 of 46 hunters afield filled their tag, 9%. That is NDOW's figure from its 2025 Big Game Hunt Data.

How hard is the elk draw for units 161 - 164?

For the antlerless hunt (any legal weapon) NDOW counted 412 resident demand for 55 tags in 2025, a 13.3% draw rate, and 61 nonresident demand for 6, 9.8%. NDOW publishes no points-required figure in that data.

Which units does a Nevada mule deer tag for 161 - 164 cover?

What was hunter success for mule deer on units 161 - 164 in 2025?

On NDOW's largest 2025 mule deer hunt here, the antlered hunt (any legal weapon), Oct 05 - Oct 20, 61 of 166 hunters afield filled their tag, 37%. That is NDOW's figure from its 2025 Big Game Hunt Data.

How hard is the mule deer draw for units 161 - 164?

For the antlered hunt (any legal weapon) NDOW counted 493 resident demand for 175 tags in 2025, a 35.5% draw rate, and 124 nonresident demand for 13, 10.5%. NDOW publishes no points-required figure in that data.

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Sources & Verification

Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-10-25.

Hunt Information Sheet — Elk, 162 wilderness — Nevada Department of Wildlife · supports: Access, Recommended hunting areas, Biologist comments · accessed 2026-10-25
Hunt Information Sheet — Elk, 161-164, 171-173 — Nevada Department of Wildlife · supports: Access, Recommended hunting areas, Biologist comments · accessed 2026-10-25
2025 Nevada Big Game Hunt Data — Nevada Department of Wildlife · supports: Seasons, quotas and tags issued, Demand and draw rate by residency, Hunters afield, successful hunters and hunter success, Days hunted · accessed 2026-10-25
NDOW Hunt Unit Boundaries — unit groups (ArcGIS) — Nevada Department of Wildlife · supports: Units 161 - 164, 5,781 square miles · accessed 2026-10-25
Geographic Names Information System — named features inside the group — U.S. Geological Survey · supports: Red Mountains, Hot Creek Range, Pancake Range, South Summit 11,932 ft, North Summit Mount Jefferson 11,808 ft · accessed 2026-10-25
Hunt Information Sheet — Mule deer, 161, 162, 163, 164 — Nevada Department of Wildlife · supports: Access, Recommended hunting areas, Biologist comments · accessed 2026-10-25

Unit 161 - 164 (Monitor Range, Table Mountain and the Toquima Range)

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 161 - 164

Elk Hunting in Unit 161 - 164

Where to Find Elk in Units 161 - 164: Table Mountain, Butler Basin and the Monitor Range

Table Mountain and Butler Basin in the Monitor Range

Hunts Canyon, Charnac Basin and the Toquima bulls

The ground NDOW draws for this tag

Unit 161 - 164 terrain and land status

Named features inside the unit

How to Hunt Elk in Units 161 - 164: wilderness on foot and bulls after the rut

Elk Success Rates

Elk Draw Odds

Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 161 - 164

Where to Find Mule Deer in Units 161 - 164: high country above the pinyon-juniper belt

Units 161 and 162, between 8,000 and 10,000 feet

Early water, then the move into Unit 163

The ground NDOW draws for this tag

Unit 161 - 164 terrain and land status

Named features inside the unit

How to Hunt Mule Deer in Units 161 - 164: the Mount Jefferson and Table Mountain trails

Mule Deer Success Rates

Mule Deer Draw Odds

Unit Logistics & Expectations

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Bighorn Sheep — Unit 161

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Frequently Asked Questions

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Sources & Verification